Friday, June 12, 2009 1:44 AM Local Time
The final day of play took over 12 hours and heads-up play took over one and a half hours, but finally Zac Fellows has emerged champion of Event #21, $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.!
Fellows came into today with the chip lead and kept his stack at a steady upward pace for most of the day. At one point when he got down, the poker gods came to his rescue and spiked Fellows a jack on seventh street in a round of stud to give him a better full house than his opponent. It seems like it truly was meant to be.
During heads-up play, Fellows dominated the action and had his competitor, James Van Alstyne, on the brink of elimination multiple times. Eventually, the cards held for Fellows and Van Alstyne was eliminated in second place.
With this win, Fellows nearly doubled his lifetime tournament winnings. More importantly, he walked away with his first WSOP gold bracelet and will forever go down in history as a World Series champion! Congratulations to all the winners and especially to the winner Zac Fellows!
Friday, June 12, 2009 1:42 AM Local Time
Hold'em
Hold'em once again provided the action here today as the final hand was decided once we returned to the world's most popular poker variation.
Zac Fellows raised preflop from the button and James Van Alstyne made the call from the big blind.
The flop came down
. Van Alstyne checked and Fellows followed up with a bet. Van Alstyne made the call.
The turn was the
and this time Van Alstyne led with a bet. Fellows raised and Van Alstyne deliberated for a few moments before committing his last chips with a raise. Fellows insta-called and the cards were tabled.
Van Alstyne showed
but when Fellows flipped
for a set, it was all over as Van Alstyne was left drawing dead.
The meaningless river was the
and Zac Fellows is crowned champion of Event #21! A great effort by James Van Alstyne, who led throughout this final table and was rarely threatened until heads-up play. He'll be feeling better tomorrow with $192,866 to soften the pain of being so close to the gold.
Friday, June 12, 2009 1:31 AM Local Time
Stud-8
With all the chips in on fourth street Zac Fellows held the lead and had the bracelet within reach. However James Van Alstyne caught good and found two pair to double up.
Fellows: (
)
(
)
Van Alstyne: (
)
(
)
Van Alstyne is back to 500,000 chips.
Friday, June 12, 2009 1:27 AM Local Time
Stud-8
James Van Alstyne is once again crippled after a Stud-8 hand following the break. Van Alstyne was the aggressor with
but mucked on the river when Zac Fellows revealed
(
) for two pair.
Van Alstyne is back down to 225,000 chips.
Friday, June 12, 2009 1:12 AM Local Time
As we tick past 2am and into the fourteenth hour of play for the day, the players are now taking a ten-minute break.
Friday, June 12, 2009 1:08 AM Local Time
Stud
James Van Alstyne led the betting and was all in on fifth street against Zac Fellows.
Van Alstyne: (
)
(
)
Fellows: (
)
(
)
Van Alstyne made two pair on the river and Fellows couldn't better it as Van Alstyne doubles up once again. He's now back to around 500,000 and has a pulse once again.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:58 AM Local Time
Omaha-8
After a series of raises, the last chips of James Van Alstyne were in on a flop of
.
"You got an eight?" quizzed Van Alstyne.
"Yeh, I got a couple of them," replied Fellows as he tabled
for quads and a stranglehold on the pot as Van Alstyne could only table
.
The turn was the
and the river was the
and Van Alstyne grabs a quarter to remain alive, as both players split the low, but again is in deep trouble with just 170,000 chips.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:53 AM Local Time
Omaha-8
After Zac Fellows raised preflop, James Van Alstyne was all in for his last 25,000 on a flop of
.
Fellows:
Van Alstyne:
Van Alstyne had a virtual lock on the pot as the turn was the
and river the
. Val Alstyne doubles to around 320,000.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:50 AM Local Time
Omaha-8
With the board reading
, James Van Alstyne checked and Zac Fellows fired a bet. Van Alstyne check-raised, but Fellows popped it up once again. Van Alstyne called and then again on the
river.
Fellows showed
for a straight and low to scoop and leave Van Alstyne crippled with just 150,000 chips.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:47 AM Local Time
Hold'em
Hold'em appears to be the action game here this evening, with James Van Alstyne swinging up and down as he tries to get some momentum going.
He took down a nice pot when his
spiked top pair on a
but then gave it straight back after Fellows bet/three-bet the flop of
to take it down.
Van Alstyne is back to 775,000.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:40 AM Local Time
Hold'em
James Van Alstyne raised from the button and Zac Fellows made the call in the big blind.
The flop came down
and Fellows put in the check-raise. Van Alstyne called, and then called again when Fellows fired on the
.
The river was the
and both checked it down. Van Alstyne tabled
for the best hand to take it down and stay alive. He's up to 900,000.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:34 AM Local Time
Zac Fellows continues to chip away at the stack of James Van Alstyne. Two further Stud pots that didn't reached the showdown went the way of Fellows as Van Alstyne is down to his last 550,000 chips.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:28 AM Local Time
Stud
Zac Fellows is inching closer to the gold. In a recent Stud hand he called bets from James Van Alstyne the whole way until sixth street, where Fellows led out with a bet and Van Alstyne gave it up.
Fellows: (X-X)
Van Alstyne: (X-X)
Van Alstyne is down to 950,000 and needs to turn something around quickly.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:24 AM Local Time
Stud
Zac Fellows fired bets on fourth and sixth streets, with fifth and seventh being checked through. The boards were tabled as follows:
Van Alstyne: (
)
Fellows: (X-X-X)
Van Alstyne's pair of nines take it down. He's back to 1.2 million but trails Fellows with 2.8 million.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:16 AM Local Time
Omaha-8
Zac Fellows raised the button and James Van Alstyne called in the big blind.
The flop was
and Van Alstyne checked to Fellows who fired a bet. Van Alstyne then check-raised and Fellows made the call.
The turn was the
and both checked, before the
landed on the river. Again both players checked it down.
With no low on board, incredibly the best high that both could muster was pocket threes! Even without a low, the players have still managed to chop!
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:06 AM Local Time
Hold'em
First blood in this heads-up contest has gone to Zac Fellows. After James Van Alstyne raised the button, Fellows defended in the big blind.
The flop arrived
and Fellows put in the check-raise over Van Alstyne's continuation bet. Van Alstyne made the call and the
fell on the turn.
Fellows slowed down and checked, but then called when Van Alstyne fired another bet. The river brought the
and both players checked it down. Fellows tabled
for aces up for the best hand as Van Alstyne mucked.
Friday, June 12, 2009 12:02 AM Local Time
We're heads up for the WSOP bracelet! Here are the approximate chip counts as we commence the heads-up battle:
James Van Alstyne - 2,040,000
Zac Fellows - 2,010,000
It's anybody's game! The bracelet is on the table and the cards are back in the air!
Thursday, June 11, 2009 11:59 PM Local Time
Hold'em
Once we got back to Hold'em the fireworks started once again. In a reraised pot preflop, Zac Fellows and Tim Finne saw a flop of
. Finne checked from the small blind to Fellows on the button who fired a bet. Finne made the call.
The turn brought the
and again Finne checked, and Fellows bet, but this time Finne put in the check-raise. Fellows re-checked his hole cards and reraised, with Finne calling off his last 25,000 chips.
Finne:
Fellows:
The river was the
to give Fellows the nut flush and the pot to eliminate a courageous Finne in 3rd place for $126,199 in prize money.
Thursday, June 11, 2009 11:52 PM Local Time
Stud-8
Another all in, and another chopped pot. Tim Finne survived by making just a pair of threes for the high as Zac Fellows took the low after leading the betting on every street.
Finne: (
-X-X)
Fellows: (
)
Thursday, June 11, 2009 11:38 PM Local Time
Short stack Tim Finne was recently able to double up during a hand of Razz against Zac Fellows, when Fellows' board ended up double pairing and Finne caught good. As a result the chip counts are now as follows:
James Van Alstyne - 1,825,000
Zac Fellows - 1,800,000
Tim Finne - 550,000